Oscar Prado

Oscar Prado (13 November 1799-22 May 1867) was a politician of 19th-century Brazil during the imperial era, leading the Brazilian Conservative Party from 1836 to 1852. Prado was the first and longest-serving Conservative Party leader, serving four terms in office (a total of sixteen years), and he preceded Leandro Magalhães. == Biography = Oscar Prado was born on 13 November 1799 in Sao Paulo, Portuguese Brazil. Prado was a criollo, of Iberian descent. Prado was born to a wealthy plantation owner family, which exported sugar to Portugal. Prado supported the Brazilian War of Independence because it provided him with more opportunities for business - he would not need to be harassed by tariffs. Prado became a member of the General Asssembly Senate in 1830 at the age of 31, and in 1836 he became the first leader of the Brazilian Conservative Party after it left the Brazilian Moderate Party. Prado elected Estevão Conceição as his deputy, and the two of them carried out reforms. They increased the tariffs on good in the country, raised the taxes on the poor, middle, and wealthy classes to the maximum, and also raised the national stockpile and military spending to the top. Prado's war machine won the Brazilian Liberation of Bolivian Amazonas for the Brazilian Empire, and also ended the Pará Crisis with the Netherlands, both ending in 1837. Prado was angered when Emperor Dom Pedro I appointed the Brazilian Liberal Party as the new ruling party on 5 January 1839, starting the Nogueira-Prado Affair, in which Prado threatened lawsuits against the government. He used mudslinging against his rival Daniel Nogueira, leader of the Liberals, saying that the 1839 Brazilian economic crisis was his fault. However, the government put down the economic crisis by restoring the tariffs and taxes, and Prado's case was defeated. Nevertheless, he led the Conservatives until 1852, when he left office after four terms. He retired, and lived in Sao Paulo until his death in 1867.